Thinking multimodal translation through relational ontology

This article envisions a novel way of conceiving of the nature of multimodal translation by thinking it through relational ontology–a philosophical position that views relations as primary and singularities as secondary. Relational ontology is applied here to relationships between modes constituting multimodal wholes. While Translation Studies has traditionally focused on the verbal mode and treated the modes as singularities, when multimodal translation is understood through relational ontology, the focus of inquiry shifts to the relationships between modes. Thus, rather than conceiving of individual modes as singularities that make meaning by addition, meaning is a synthesis of the modes and requires the embodied perceiver’s engagement with and interpretation of the co-presented materials. Changing the perspective of Translation Studies from a verbal to relational ontology allows us to focus on the relationships between modes instead of framing modes through hierarchical relationships, and to look beyond the restrictive tendency of Translation Studies to frame multimodal entities as texts. The focus on relations between modes also allows us to envision connections between the cognitive and embodied dimensions of multimodal meaning construction. Relational ontology brings methodological challenges, because methods must be found that allow us to focus on the relationships between modes.